The Beach
by WakeUpSunshine
Summary: AU Their Summers were always spent the same, on the same street in Connecticut overlooking the beach. For three months out of every year, they become a family. Except, their 'family' was torn apart two summers back when everything changed.
1. The Arrival

The title of this is subject to change. I know I have Miserable At Best to complete, but this story refused to go away, I just had to write it. I'm not sure where it's going exactly but I'm pretty proud of it. Right now, it could end up as either Samchel (Sam/Rachel) or Puckleberry (Puck/Rachel) so I'm going to tag this as Rachel. (: Hope you enjoy.

1. O N E - The Arrival

Rachel Berry, the girl in the blue dress, pulled the skirt under her bottom as she sat down on the front step of the beach house. She looked around, closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the salty sea air. Her memories were flooded with the many summers before that she had spent on those same steps. One summer in particular hit her like a bomb. Two summers ago she stopped being the girl that had dreams and ambitions and became the girl that closed her heart to everything and everyone.

That had a lot to do with the boy she gave her heart to. The boy that stole it and never gave it back. The same one that she would see again for the first time since that summer.

She knew she would just need to suck it up, forget all about everything they had but a part of her wanted nothing more then to hold on to everything. She knew seeing him again would just break her heart all over again, but there was honestly nothing she could do to stop it.

She couldn't remember a time when her Father's hadn't brought her to the beach house in Connecticut. Surrounding their beach house were a few others, the houses that the people she saw every summer occupied with their own families. Over the years, everyone had gotten to know each other and they became one big family for three months. She had looked forward to these months until everything happened with the boy.

She ran a hand through her dark hair, biting down on her lower lip. Her heart wasn't ready for this. She just wasn't ready. She wondered if she could take that job offer for the summer she had gotten from one of her Daddy's colleagues. It was the summer before college, she could just use the excuse that she wanted to get some job experience in. Then again she knew her Father's wanted to spend this summer with her before she left for Julliard in the fall.

She wasn't even sure if her heart was into going to Julliard any longer. She couldn't remember the last time she sang with her heart. Singing had always been her passion, well before that boy came along and ruined everything.

Her life used to center around music, dancing and anything to do with Broadway. Ever since she could remember, Julliard and New York had been her dream. She was from a small town in Ohio, so getting out was a must. She had dreams bigger then the entire town.

She wanted to be that girl again. The girl who lusted after art in the musical form, the girl who never stopped talking, the one who enjoyed every little thing about life, but she couldn't. She knew that one day she would just have to suck it up and forget that summer ever happened, but much like not being able to get her old self back, she just couldn't forget him.

Moving past that summer would mean moving past the love she felt in her heart for him. It would mean moving past the feeling of butterflies every time he showed up on her front porch. All of the nights spent sitting on the beach, wrapped tightly in his arms, gone. She couldn't let any of that go. She just wasn't ready.

She took a deep breath, pressing her chin into her palm as her elbow dug into her knee. She looked over at the house across the street as a black SUV pulled into the driveway. If this were two summers ago, before him, she would have jumped up and greeted the people currently hopping out of the vehicle. But, she just couldn't bring herself to be happy about anyone arriving. Because that meant eventually, he would arriving as well.

She watched slowly as the tallest member of the family sent her a goofy wave. She didn't have it in her to send one back, so she just nodded over at him. His step-brother just rolled his eyes and flipped his hair, telling the taller one to help. The parent's walked right inside, not even acknowledging her existence, which she didn't even mind.

She looked away from the two boys unpacking their car, and looked down the street to find another family unpacking their van. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she watched the blonde girl, that was once her best friend, step out of the van with a large smile on her face. The girl was perfect, at least in everyone's eyes. They didn't know about the things that happened the summer before last, or even the things that happened following that summer. This was the girl that Rachel blamed everything on.

She shook her head, not wanting to even think about that. She wished she could bury it. Deeper then six feet under the soil.

Her heart beat quickened as another car passed in front of her. But instantly slowed down when she realized who the car belonged to. It was red and a bit older then the other cars on the street, but she knew the family inside was the only quality one around anymore. She stood up, wanting to greet this family since she knew the oldest boy would hug her and possibly make her forget about why she was so sad. The funny thing was, the girl she used to be would have never associated with the mohawked boy. In fact, before last summer they barely even interacted.

His arms were open for her when she arrived, a big smile set on his lips. She didn't hesitate in wrapping her arms around him, tightly. She breathed in, deeply, happy to have someone around that made her feel okay again. He kissed the top of her head before pulling away. She watched as he looked at her from her head to her toes, a slow frown gracing his lips.

"You don't look healthy." He murmured, causing her to pull away completely and wrap her light sweat around her body.

"I look fine." She replied back, anger obviously in her voice.

"Have you been eating?" He quirked an eyebrow. Her mouth dropped open.

"Of course I've been eating you imbecile." She hit him lightly on the chest. Truthfully, she hadn't. Of course she ate to appease her Father's but eating was no longer on her list of importance.

"Ah, there's my girl." He winked at her. "I've missed you, Rach." He replied, softly.

"I might have missed you, Noah." She smirked. Their exchange caused Rachel to no longer think about the summer, and the terrible boy. She knew, though, that as soon as she was alone again all of her previous thoughts would haunt her.

"Don't lie." He chuckled. He hugged her once more before nodding behind them. Rachel turned her head to see that his Mother was approaching.

Ms. Puckerman had always been so warm and welcoming to Rachel, she had honestly no idea how the older woman raised such a son as Noah. They were the complete opposite of each other. As Ms. Puckerman approached, Rachel gave her back a warm smile.

"Oh, Rachel, honey it is so nice to see you." Ms. Puckerman cooed as she hugged Rachel to her. Rachel hugged her back, enjoying the warmth of a Mother's embrace. "For Heaven's sake, Rachel you are far too skinny."

At this, Rachel backed up and started to think of an excuse to leave. She knew that Ms. Puckerman loved to cook and would most likely offer to make her something, in which Rachel just couldn't turn down. So, she thought maybe leaving before the question was asked was the smartest thing to do.

"Mom, quit harassing her." Noah cut in. "She'll eat at the bonfire later." Her heart literally skipped a beat at that. Bone fire. The one the kids held every year on the first night at the beach.

"Actually, Noah, I think I might be skipping that tonight. I do not feel too well…"

"I'm not buying it, Berry." He cut her off. "You're going and that's final." Rachel groaned, low. When exactly did she let Noah Puckerman rule over what she did or didn't do.

She would have protested this but Noah walked away to start getting their luggage inside. The youngest Puckerman, Amelia, waved shortly at Rachel before walking inside the house. She still couldn't believe the young girl was already fourteen. She just hoped that Amelia didn't turn out anything like her older brother.

As she was standing there, another car passed by. This time it was a Mercedes with it's top rolled down. She watched as the tall Asian boy jumped out of the backseat without even opening a door. She could hear his parent's yelling at him but he didn't seem phased by it one bit. Instead, he started joking around his younger brother who was around the same age as Amelia.

When he caught sight of Rachel staring, he waved. While Rachel rarely ever interacted with him, she knew that he was rather friendly. She also knew he had a crush on other blonde that occupied the house next to hers. While that was cute and all, Rachel was the only one to know that the blonde had a thing for the Latina girl on the opposite side of her.

As Rachel turned back to see what Noah was doing, she heard another car pass by. Her heart sped up, once again but quickly slowed down when she saw the handy capable car pull into the house on the left of Noah's.

"Earth to Rachel." She saw a quick flash of a hand in front of her face, causing her to turn her head towards the person the hand belonged to.

"What do you want, Noah?" She deadpanned.

"You to stop obsessing over when the douche bag gets here."

"I am not obsessing." Rachel protested, lightly, her hands finding a safe place on her hips. "I am merely observing each family as they arrive."

"In other words, obsessing." He smiled, causing her to 'humph' at him and start to walk back towards her own house. "Wait, I'm only kidding, Rach. Can't you take a joke?" He called after her, a smile evident in his voice. She just chose to ignore it, to let him think she was actually angry when in reality she wasn't. She just wanted to get inside her house. Watching each family arrive was really getting to her.

Once opening the front door, she toed off her shoes. She walked slowly towards the living room to find her Dad sitting in his favorite chair reading the newspaper. She could tell that he enjoyed the beach house more then any of them. These three months gave him the time he needed to relax, to completely take himself away from work and spend time with the two people who meant the most to him.

She walked past him and into the kitchen where her Daddy was busying himself with dusting the silverware. This man was a little different then her Dad. He had stayed home caring for her until two years ago when he started working at a law firm, but she knew he regretted spending any sort of time away from her. Family came first to him, much like it did her Dad but he made sure to always make Rachel feel loved and cared for. Her Dad sometimes forgot she was even around, not that Rachel was complaining, of course. He was able to give her anything and everything she had ever wanted in life.

She decided not to stay in the kitchen, instead taking the stairs that led from the kitchen to the second floor. She hadn't done much un-packing since they arrived earlier in the day. She walked into the room, her heart sinking at the pictures that decorated her wall. She couldn't bring herself to take any of them down. Even last summer when she spent more time in her room then anything. She just wasn't ready to let go.

She decided to busy herself with un-packing. Otherwise, she would just sit on her bed and stare at the collage. She started with her clothes, then her movies, next came the few books she brought along then her notebook that was buried deep in one of her bags. She held the notebook close to her chest. Inside were hundreds of songs written in the last two years. Many were about the boy, but some were about other things. But mostly, they were all sad and held nothing happy.

She made sure to put the notebook under her mattress, not wanting anyone to find it. Once she was finished un-packing, she began to dust her shelves and dresser. Being gone an entire year accumulated a massive amount of dust. They used to rent the place out during the off seasons, but her Father's stopped doing that a few years back.

After the entire room was dust free, she walked over to her window. She had a perfect view of everyone's houses and the ocean. She had to will herself not to look at the one house she knew she wanted to look at the most. She wanted to not care if he was or wasn't currently at his place yet. She wanted to not care so bad. But, of course she did care. She cared more then she could ever admit to anyone.

Everyone but his family had arrived so far. Well, that's what she was guessing since she refused to even look in the direction of his beach house. She stepped away from the window, and sat down on the edge of her bed. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

She wanted to crawl under the covers. Missing the bonfire sounded better as each minute passed by. But, she knew Noah wouldn't let her. He had sent her a text message the day before saying that there was no way he was letting her mope around the entire summer. Not like she had the summer before.

Eventually, she got up from the bed and went back downstairs. Her Dad was still sitting in the same spot when she passed by him to get to the front door. Neither of them spoke as she slipped her flats back on her feet. She opened the door and stepped out into the cool summer air. She was glad the day wasn't unbearably hot, she wasn't ready for shorts and tank tops yet. Her simple blue dress with the light golden sweater was perfect for the weather they were having.

She didn't see him as she closed the door behind herself. She didn't notice that he was standing with his hands stuffed in his front pockets as she looked down. She practically bumped into him when she descended the steps.

When she looked up, she couldn't breathe. There he was. For the first time in two years, the golden haired boy was standing in front of her.


	2. 2

If anyone read Chapter 2 - titled Quinn - please disregard that. Looking back, I realized that that isn't the way I want the story to go. I want the story to be centered around Rachel, not everyone else so I will be deleting this and replacing it with the real chapter 2. (: Sorry about that.


End file.
